OREANDA-NEWS. On April 28, at the African Development Bank’s Headquarters in Abidjan the Directors of the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Quality Assurance and Results and the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Departments, Simon Mizrahi and Alex Rugamba, respectively, will launch the Bank’s 2014 Development Effectiveness Review on Energy (DER). The report is the fourth themed edition of the publication since the reports were initiated in 2011.

Africa faces severe challenges in providing its citizens with energy access. At the same time, its untapped clean energy potential is one of its most important development resources. The African Development Bank has therefore placed energy at the heart of its portfolio.

The Development Effectiveness Review on Energy examines the challenges Africa faces in providing affordable and sustainable energy to its citizens. It is the first to examine the Bank’s contribution to building sustainable energy infrastructure on the continent between 2009 and 2013. The 40-page report also looks at how effectively AfDB manages its energy operations and how efficient it is in doing so.

“This Development Effectiveness Review shows that with over half of the world’s renewable energy sources, Africa has significant potential to leapfrog older technologies and become a global leader on clean energy,” said Mizrahi.

The report shows that the Bank has committed a significant amount of resources – \$13 billion over the past two decades to build up the energy sector in Africa. Most went towards building national generation capacity and distribution networks, with an emphasis on rural electrification to promote inclusive growth.

Since 2009, the Bank has contributed to financing over 1,900 MW of new generation capacity and over 15,000 kilometres of transmission lines. Through these efforts, it has provided 567,000 people with new electricity connections and over 14 million people with improved access to electricity. Having built up a strong pipeline of new energy projects, these results are expected to double by 2018.

The DER provides evidence of the Bank’s contribution to the development of Africa’s energy infrastructure and discusses how well it manages its portfolio and itself as an organization. The DER openly discusses its strengths and weaknesses and notes the reforms it is undertaking to become a stronger partner in development.

As Africa’s future energy needs increase, the African Development Bank’s level of ambition in this critical area must be high. It is determined to make the best of its resources to provide energy access and energy security to all Africans across the continent, to overcome a key constraint on Africa’s development and set the continent on the path to green growth.